Berkadia Commercial Mortgage LLC, the joint venture of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK/A) and Leucadia National Corp. (LUK), is looking beyond apartments as the U.S. government scales back in the market.The commercial mortgage originator and servicer plans to expand its financing of offices, retail properties and hotels, said Hugh Frater, Berkadia’s chief executive officer. The bulk of the Horsham, Pennsylvania-based company’s business is currently tied to originating apartment loans backed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration.“Our intention is to diversify,” Frater, 57, said in an interview yesterday. “Diversify by property type, do a bit more in the other food groups, and then also diversify our lender mix.”Berkadia, the third-largest U.S. commercial and multifamily mortgage servicer, is preparing for changes at government-backed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that may push up funding costs for apartment loans. It’s also seeking to profit from a rebound in offices, retail and other types of commercial properties in regions such as Texas and California, and is adding mortgage bankers and sales advisers in states including Florida and Georgia.“A recovering commercial real estate market, which in turn means more transactions, is good news for them,” said Ben Carlos Thypin, director of market analysis at New York-based Real Capital Analytics Inc.Read More: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-05-02/berkadia-looks-beyond-apartments-as-u-s-retreating.html

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Ben Carlos Thypin

I am currently the co-founder of Quantierra, the world's first data driven real estate brokerage and investment manager. In my former life as Director of Market Analysis at Real Capital Analytics, I worked with press outlets large and small to provide them with great data and insightful commentary. Here are some of the results of this collaboration. For the rest, please check out the News Archive.